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France international Eric Abidal believes that he has been handed a harsh deal by Barcelona this summer when the Catalans decided not to renew his contract.
The 34 year old has been battling with cancer and underwent a major liver transplant last season which kept him in the sidelines for a year. The La Liga champions decided not to offer him a new contract and that has left Abidal extremely disappointed.
"The problem was that I was out of contract," Abidal told French newspaper L'Equipe.
"In these cases, your contract is either renewed or it ends. I was prepared for both scenarios.
"It was tough to accept but you don't have a choice.
"What was difficult to understand was what Barcelona said during my final press conference. By suggesting it was a career choice, that made other clubs doubt (the situation).
"It was not even about money. The proof being that every month I was ill the club didn't pay me."
However, the new Monaco defender insisted that had Pep Guardiola been at charge, such a thing would never have happened.
"Certainly (things would have been different had Guardiola stayed)," he said.
"He is a person who likes me a lot and with whom I am still in contact.
"He is a great coach and it was he who gave me my chance. If he had still been there, I may have been able to stay on."
Written by Prateek Sarkar
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